


Inherent Comfort

by DobbyRocksSocks



Series: IronShield [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Fic, All the family things, Attempted running away by Bruce, Friendship/Family/Team fluff, Just a big old hunk of love and fluff, M/M, Nightmares, The team love Tony, Tony Loves His Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 04:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18066803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DobbyRocksSocks/pseuds/DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: Tony is there for all of the team always. He's still surprised when they want to be there for him in return.





	Inherent Comfort

_ Nobody knew when the habits started, or when they became the new norm. The only thing they did know, was that there was something inherently comforting about Tony Stark. _

_... _

I 

He scrambled out of the mess of sheets, sweat dripping down his face. Only when he looked in the mirror to see brown eyes looking back at him did his lungs remember how breathing worked. 

He’d been so sure he’d see the blue that Loki’s staff had turned them. 

Clint gripped the dresser tightly, staring at the mirror. His knuckles were turning white from his tight grip, but he couldn’t force himself to let go. Eventually, when his breathing was coming easier, he released his hands and stepped back from the mirror. He turned to his bed, but the thought of climbing back beneath the sheets was enough to send a shiver of fear up his spine. 

While logically, Clint knew that Thor had taken Loki back to Asgard, in his dreams he had no such assurances. 

Instead, he grabbed a black S.H.I.E.L.D hoodie and pulled it on, before leaving his bedroom.

He expected to find the common room empty, but the tv was playing quietly, and Tony was sitting on the sofa, a soft looking blanket wrapped around him, a mug of coffee held between his hands. 

He looked up when he saw Clint approaching, and there was a flash of understanding in his eyes, though it left so quickly that Clint wasn’t sure if he’d imagined it. 

A smile appeared on his face and a tablet appeared in his hands as though by magic. 

“Legolas! Just the man I wanted to see. Come sit with me and look at these shiny new arrow designs.” 

“You were waiting up in the middle of the night to show me arrows?” Clint asked, as he approached the sofa. When he saw beside Tony, the genius lifted the blanket like it was nothing, and waiting expectantly for Clint to shuffle closer. 

“Why yes I was,” Tony replied, clearly lying and giving no shits that they both knew it. “Look!” 

Clint leant closer still to see the arrow designs on the tablet, and he smiled when he saw one of them had purple arrowheads. 

Tony set off rambling about the different features the different arrows had, pausing occasionally for a breath or to sip from his coffee cup, and before Clint knew it, the sun was rising, shining through the large windows of the common room. 

When Tony finally trailed off, Clint was feeling relaxed and in better control of himself, the nightmare not forgotten, but pushed back into the box he tried to keep it locked in. 

“Morning guys,” Natasha greeted, when she entered with her own coffee. She gave them a long, measured look, before she nodded once. “Clint, training room in twenty?” 

He nodded. “I’ll be there.” 

Uncurling himself, he moved the blanket off himself and stood. As he passed, he squeezed Tony’s shoulder in silent gratitude. 

… 

II 

Natasha walked around the compound silently, running her hands against the walls as she did. It wasn’t often that the red room haunted her dreams, but when it did, she couldn’t fight the compulsion to remark her territory. 

She needed to force her mind to believe that she was away from that, away from her past. Protected. Safe. 

The tower helped, having somewhere that she knew she was welcome, that she knew was hers, it helped. 

“Tash?” 

She turned, her hand automatically moving to rest on her hip where one of her throwing knives laid in wait. 

Tony was standing by the door to his workshop, squinting slightly at her. 

“What is it, Tony?” 

He blinked at her, silent for a long moment, before he seemed to realise she was waiting for an answer. 

“Have you got a minute? I could use a hand with your bites.” 

She hesitated, then nodded, stepping into his workshop. It was so entirely different from the place that haunted her sleep that she relaxed almost instantly. Tony threw up more holograms, the blue light shining brightly in the workshop. 

“I have…” He looked around and finally his face lit up. “Three new sets for you to try out and… erm… where is it… oh, here, this is to test them out on.” 

He handed her the widow bites and led her to the testing area. 

“Be brutal,” he said, stepping back. “I need to know what works and what doesn’t.” 

Natasha did as he asked. She didn’t hold back, and forty five minutes later, she perched on the table of the workshop. 

“Tony?” 

He turned to look at her, eyes brightening when he saw her smiling. “Gimme all the details.” 

She didn’t say thank you, but an hour later, when she gently hugged him before she left the workshop, she thought he knew anyway. 

… 

III 

“You were quiet at dinner.” 

Thor looked up to see Tony standing by the sofa, his head tilted to the side curiously. Thor had left the group gathering early, attempted sleep that refused to come, and once he was quite certain the others had gone to bed, he’d returned to the common area of the tower. 

The windows there were the best for him to look upon the sky, especially at night. 

“My Lady Jane and I have… she has decided to pursue another path in her life. We are no longer involved.” 

Tony’s eyes widened with understanding and he wrinkled his nose. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Breakups are never fun.”  

Thor nodded sullenly. Tony stepped over to the window, and Thor watched him curiously. 

“Did you hear about the stories we have for the constellations?” Tony asked, glancing back at Thor. “I always wondered if any of them matched up with anything you have on Asgard.” 

“Tell me?” Thor requested. 

Tony nodded, and then turned back to Thor. “Fetch that sofa over here, Point Break. I’m far too old to be standing for hours.” 

Thor did as he was asked, and Tony flopped down onto the cushions, patting the seat beside him for Thor to sit with him. As soon as the two of them were comfortable, Tony pointed up to the sky and began his tale. 

Thor listened carefully, smiling as the time passed and he realised that Tony had long given up on remembering the actual tales of the constellations and was making them up as he went along. 

Thor wasn’t of this planet, but he was quite sure that he could search the many realms and never find a soul quite as eager to offer comfort and solace to those he held dear than Tony Stark. 

That Thor could count this man as one of his friends filled him with a warmth that helped to chase away the sorrow left behind by Jane. 

… 

IV 

Tony caught Bruce before he could leave. The man was almost done packing when Tony skidded into the doorway, almost smashing his face against the wall as he did. 

“Bruce?” 

“Tony.” 

“What… what’s going on?” 

“I… need to leave for a while.” 

“Why?” 

“I just…” 

“Bruce… if this is about what happened—” 

“I could have killed one of you, Tony!” 

Tony shook his head. “No, you were fine, Bruce, Hulk, he was fine. Didn’t even try and hurt any of us!” 

Bruce frowned, bent as he was to put another pair of trousers into the hastily packed duffle bag. 

“What do you mean?” 

“J, gimme a screen wouldja?” Tony requested. 

Bruce stood up in time to see his transformation into the green monster that lived inside of him. He watched, completely flabbergasted as Tony walked towards the Hulk as though they were age old friends. He watched the softening of wild eyes set on a green face, and he watched Tony lead the Hulk to the Hulk room as though it was nothing. 

What followed was worse, or better, depending on your thought process. Tony had a screen put up, much the same as he had now, and Bruce could only watch on in utter disbelief as Tony settled into the Hulk’s side as the two of them watched  _ Toy Story.  _

“Tony…” Bruce trailed off, at a loss for words. 

“The hulk is my friend,” Tony said firmly. “The same way that Bruce Banner is my friend. If you need to leave, Bruce, I won’t stop you, but… don’t leave because of him. He’s safe here with us, and we’re safe with him.” 

“I…” Bruce looked down at the half full duffle bag. “He likes  _ Disney?” _

“And Star Trek,” Tony confirmed with a small smile. “If you’re not leaving, I promised him some stretchy trousers, so you should come help me in the workshop, okay?” 

Tony left the room, and Bruce stared after him, a gentle warmth igniting in his chest. He’d never felt so… so utterly accepted. 

With a final look at the bag, Bruce shook his head and walked out of the room for the elevator. Tony was waiting for him in the workshop. 

...

V 

A lot of people thought if Steve was going to have nightmares, it would be about the ice, but that wasn’t strictly true. Sure, he hated being cold, but he didn’t actually remember being frozen, so Steve’s nightmares weren’t often about the ice. 

When Steve had nightmares, it was about pre-serum life. It was about Bucky and Peggy, and the Howling Commandos. It was about a life he missed so much sometimes that it was hard to breathe. 

When that happened, Steve found that the easiest way to distract himself was to wrap himself around the best thing he’d found in the future. 

Often, he only had to turn over in bed to find Tony laid next to him. He could easily pull the smaller man closer, bury his face in Tony’s hair, and remember the peace and happiness the man brought him. 

Other times, it was a ride in the elevator down to the workshop, where Tony would be either whirling around the place like a spinning top, or sitting at his worktable, fiddling with something beyond Steve’s ability to comprehend. 

When he was awake, Tony would open his arms silently and let Steve take him in his arms, and pull what he needed from him. He gave everything he had without ever asking for anything in return, and Steve couldn’t believe that he’d ever believed Tony to be anything but the incredible man he was. 

“You okay, baby?” Tony asked, turning over. He’d been dozing on the bed, not truly asleep, but not fully awake either. Steve lay beside him, drawing nonsensical patterns on his palm. 

“I’m better than okay,” Steve replied quietly, shifting onto his side to face Tony, pulling the smaller man against him. “I love you.” 

“I love you too. Nap, and then… Italian? I think I fancy Italian for dinner.” 

Steve chuckled. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.” 

For everything that Tony gave to Steve, gave to all of them, he could give Tony this. 

… 

+I

Tony  _ despised  _ being sick. 

It didn’t happen often, surprising when one looked at the amount of injuries he’d sustained and his general health being what it was. Regardless, Tony didn’t really get sick, and whenever he did get sick, he was absolutely miserable the entire time. 

And lonely. 

Because the only thing worse than being sick, was letting other people in when he was so weak and vulnerable. 

That had always worked fine, because as much as Rhodey and Pepper loved him, they were used to him disappearing for days at a time and they didn’t worry so long as JARVIS didn’t contact them. 

Now though… now he lived with a team of superheroes and spies, and they wouldn’t just leave him to deal with it by himself. 

They wouldn’t have known, Tony maintained, if only they hadn’t been called out for a mission. Sick as he was, Tony was having a few problems managing the armor, and when he stumbled as he landed, Steve’s eyes had narrowed. 

“M’fine,” he tried to assure them, as soon as JARVIS removed the suit on the landing pad. “Just going to head down t’ the workshop.” 

Steve caught him around the waist and held him firmly against his chest. “You, are not well,” he murmured. “Let us take care of you, Tones.” 

“Don’t need it,” Tony replied weakly, even as he sagged against Steve’s warmth. “M’fine.” 

“Then take care of us?” Steve offered. “We need some team bonding after that fight, and that means curling up on the sofa with a hot drink, lots of blankets and cuddling, and maybe some soup.” 

Tony turned his head to look up at Steve. He tried to glare but he was too damn tired to put any effort into it. “I know what you’re up to, you sneaky sneak.” 

“Uh huh,” Steve agreed. He led Tony to the sofa, barely managing to restrain himself from just picking the genius up. There was a flurry of activity round them, as Clint left to the kitchen to make hot chocolate, and Natasha hunted down pillows and blankets. Bruce was muttering rapidly to JARVIS, asking for stats on Tony, his temperature and how long he’d been sick. 

“This isn’t necessary, y’know,” Tony mumbled, as Steve arranged Tony across his lap on the sofa, with a scarlet blanket covering them both. 

Steve smiled slightly and pressed a kiss to Tony’s temple. “I know you don’t  _ need  _ help, sweetheart. But, maybe from us, it’s okay to  _ want  _ it, okay?” 

Tony opened and closed his mouth a few times before he closed his eyes and relaxed against Steve. 

“Okay.” 

Thor sat down on the floor in front of Tony and Steve and Clint and Natasha joined him, followed closely by Bruce. 

“JARVIS, a star movie please,” Thor announced, seemingly very pleased with himself when Tony chuckled. 

The opening credits of Star Wars appeared on the screen, and Tony snuggled deeper into Steve, nuzzling in for warmth. 

“Love you guys,” he whispered, his eyes closing slowly. 

“We love you too, sweetheart.” 


End file.
